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Don't let this happen to the memory of Mr. Christ

Here is the letter I received from the prosecuting attorney in Tucker County West Virginia in reference to the "deliberate" I was involved in.

Dear Mr. Hebert:

On 11/27/07, Mr. Simmons pled no contest to drunk driving. The Magistrate sentenced him to 24 hours. In jail, fined him $100.00 plus $240.50 court cost. For leaving the scene of and accident, he also pled no contest. The Magistrate charged him $1.50 fine plus $165.50 court cost. He will also lose his driver‘«÷s license for 6 months. He will not be able to get his license returned until he completes the West Virginia Alcohol treatment class. This is an additional expense of approximately $350.00. The class usually lasts 6 weeks, but longer if you continue drinking.

If he is caught driving now, he must spend a minimum of 6 months in jail.

What a friggin joke.

If anyone is able to attend the hearings dealing with the death of Mr. Christ, I encourage you to do so and speak your mind.

That is not an act of justice, but an act of laws exercised poorly. I have a feeling Mr. Simmons is a real example of getting away with murder. A murder that COULD have been avoided. Not an accident.
Would a written petition from across the nation help?

The original post was titled "The latest on my HSAGO". It is in the forum. I wrote it in July but got very little fedback here on the largest BMW forum in the free world. Maybe my title was not catchy enough. You can read what happened there.

Gil, I did ask everyone to write a letter to the prosecuting attorney if they felt inclined to do so. Now it would be a great time to let him know how rediculous the sentence was.

We can sit back and arm chair this to death, but unless you were the one sitting on the bike at almost a complete stop, with your daughter on the back, you cannot begin to understand what went through my mind. It was overwhelming. The what if's continue to haunt me.

Here is the letter I received from the prosecuting attorney in Tucker County West Virginia in reference to the "deliberate" I was involved in.

Dear Mr. Hebert:

On 11/27/07, Mr. Simmons pled no contest to drunk driving. The Magistrate sentenced him to 24 hours. In jail, fined him $100.00 plus $240.50 court cost. For leaving the scene of and accident, he also pled no contest. The Magistrate charged him $1.50 fine plus $165.50 court cost. He will also lose his driver’s license for 6 months. He will not be able to get his license returned until he completes the West Virginia Alcohol treatment class. This is an additional expense of approximately $350.00. The class usually lasts 6 weeks, but longer if you continue drinking.

If he is caught driving now, he must spend a minimum of 6 months in jail.

What a friggin joke.

If anyone is able to attend the hearings dealing with the death of Mr. Christ, I encourage you to do so and speak your mind.

Steve

That's just downright insulting. $100 fine for driving drunk? $1.50 fine for leaving the scene of an accident??? What the heck?? You can't buy a Coke for that!!

The original post was titled "The latest on my HSAGO". It is in the forum. I wrote it in July but got very little fedback here on the largest BMW forum in the free world. Maybe my title was not catchy enough. You can read what happened there.

With all the other threads, I just skipped on by it... the title didn't mean anything to me. I'll go back and review it now...

It is that way almost everywhere - and most of it is state-mandated. A $10 forfeiture in Wisconsin actually costs over $130.00 with the required court costs. Don't blame the court. Blame your legislators.

The judge sets the fines, not the prosecutor. Your letters would be better directed to the judge rather than the prosecutors office.

Note that I am not saying agree with the fines as stated.

DEFINITION OF A VETERAN A Veteran - whether active duty, retired, national guard or reserve - is someone who, at one point in their life, wrote a check made payable to "The United States of America", for an amount of "up to and including my life."
Author Unknown

There are statutes that have a recommended fine in them. I do not personally know of a state that has a mandatory fine but there may well be some. The judge has considerable latitude in setting the penalty for an offense. They may take a recommendation from the prosecutor and defense but they have the final say. I've seen folks walk in with multiple DUI charges and walk out with a single conviction for reckless driving due to a plea agreement. I've also seen a defendant walk out after being found guilty with no fine at all on a collision with injuries because the judge felt sorry for her having to get a babysitter so she could appear in court.

That kind of situation will give you an ulcer if you let it get to you dealing with it on a day in and day out experience. Along with a bunch of other Officers I just had to figure it is a "game" and not let it affect me. I just had to go out and do my job as a professional and leave it behind me no matter what the judge or prosecutor did in dealing with the defendant.

I had a real education in it when my then fiance (1st wife) was assaulted and fought off a guy who tried to rape her. I found the guy, just having looked at anyone I saw while driving to pick her up at her job. I let other Officers make the arrest. The prosecutors office let him plead to simple assault, no jail time only 2 months probation on a misdemeanor plea. There was more than adequate evidence and a sincere desire to prosecute on the part of my fiance. It didn't matter we were not consulted. The guy ended up raping another woman and put her in the hospital 6 months later.

The "criminal justice system" is an oxymoron. It isn't justice, it isn't a system but it is criminal.

DEFINITION OF A VETERAN A Veteran - whether active duty, retired, national guard or reserve - is someone who, at one point in their life, wrote a check made payable to "The United States of America", for an amount of "up to and including my life."
Author Unknown

Our local news last week reported that a man who exposed himself three times in a community park was sentenced to 225 years in jail; that's right, three consecutive 75 year sentences. However, I remember the sisters who conspired to shoot the husband of one of them, and I think they got three years each.

Then, there's the poacher, 15 years of killing: "One of Montana's most notorious poachers, Philip Mark Payton, once hunted moose and other trophy animals with impunity, but these days the only creature he says he's after is the mouse in his house.

Two years after he was charged, Payton's victims - or rather their skulls, antlers and hides - stared at him mutely from the jury box Wednesday, providing a poignant backdrop in the sentencing of one of the worst cases of illegal killing of big game in decades in the Big Sky state.

Prosecutors sought a lengthy prison term for Payton, who violated virtually every hunting law on the books, but he instead received a large fine and probation and had his hunting, fishing and trapping privileges revoked for life."